


Guitar Strings and Flower Petals

by JuliaCorvia, QuirkQuartz



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: An absurd amount of flower metaphores, Character Study, Developing Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Lumity, Romance, Skarillow, Skarlow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:29:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29686764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuliaCorvia/pseuds/JuliaCorvia, https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuirkQuartz/pseuds/QuirkQuartz
Summary: Willow finds Skara at her weakest moment - It would have been easy to walk past her and pretend not to notice.But Willow doesn't.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Willow Park & Skara, Willow Park/Skara
Comments: 67
Kudos: 115





	1. Blood Meal

“Alright - And what did you learn?” 

“...To not throw glyphs into Abomination goo until I know what it does.” 

“...And not to encourage her to do that.” 

Clearing up huge piles of Abomination goo wasn’t something that Willow was unused to doing. She had spent quite a long time in the Abomination Track before being moved to the Plant Track, and a lot of the lessons and experiments she had taken part in ended up in failure, leaving her with a huge mess to clean. Honestly, it was probably one of the worst parts of being on the Track. 

After switching Tracks, a part of her had honestly expected those days to be behind her. If she could help it, she didn’t even want to so much as touch another Abomination again for as long as she lived. 

And yet, here she was, trying to scrub the remains of a particularly sticky, viscous, and obstinate Abomination from every corner of the Abomination Track’s homeroom, using water, cleaning solvents, mops, whatever was to hand to try to coax the sludge to give in and allow itself to be cleaned up. 

And while she tried to do that, the Track Professor berated Luz and Amity, not even ten feet from her. 

“I’m glad to see that your common sense survived this fiasco.” The Professor flatly stated, clearly not satisfied. “I wish you would think to _use_ it more, though.” He faced Luz. “Principle Bump informed me of your unique ways of doing Magic before you attended any of my classes. That is the _only_ reason I’ve permitted you to get away with not actually _creating_ any Abominations for my classes for so long. I had hoped that when you discovered a way to control them, that you would have had the foresight to figure out precisely what you were working with.” 

Luz chewed on her lip, and looked away. 

The professor turned to Amity. “And I would have hoped that _you,_ Ms. Blight, of all people, at least would have had the sense to not _indulge_ her in this.” 

“I’m sorry, sir.” Amity looked at the ground as she apologized. It was more a whisper than anything else. 

Willow sighed. This had all seemed like a much, much better idea twenty minutes ago. 

Everything about this situation had started while everyone was eating lunch - Luz and Amity had just had Abomination classes, and were talking about the projects that they had to complete for the Track. While Luz kept notes about the class, and the technical side of creating the Abominations, she didn’t have any idea how to actually cast… Any sort of spell to let her control an Abomination. Without Magic, she had to rely purely on the mixture being perfect, _but even then_ , she couldn’t get the thing to form, or to rise at her command. And if she couldn’t raise an Abomination, well, that was pretty much a dead-end for the Abomination Track. 

When Amity asked to see what notes that Luz had made - suggesting that maybe there was an error in the amounts of material that she had used, or that she was using the wrong technique, or some other small mistake that could explain why she was having so much trouble - she discovered that there had been a glyph, made out of Abomination goo, that covered one of the pages, that had formed without Luz noticing. 

In all their heads, that had to be the glyph that would allow Luz to control the husks, and with encouragement from Willow and Gus, and Amity’s assistance in getting into the room and finding a vat of goo, Luz tried out her new spell. 

Unfortunately, it had actually had the opposite effect of _controlling_ Abominations - It just caused the things to go _ballistic_ and _attack people._

Luckily, everyone was able to use their Magic to destroy the rampaging thing, splatting it into a useless mess of sludge. The noise however, attracted the Track professor; and all he saw were four students, and his classroom absolutely coated in Abomination goo. 

Needless to say, he was quite angry. He demanded an explanation, and well, here they were. 

He glanced between the four students, and for a moment, it looked like he was about to start yelling again. Instead, he just pinched at the bridge of his nose, sighed, and said, “You all have excellent school records, which is why I expect this room to be thoroughly cleaned before the next lesson begins. I’ll be reviewing the security crystals when I return, and if I discover any of you have used Magic to clean this up, or find even a patch of goo left under a single seat, I _will_ be taking this matter to Principle Bump. Do I make myself clear?” 

“Yes, sir.” Everyone answered. That was…. Honestly far lighter a punishment than any of them expected. 

The professor snapped his fingers, and the Abomination that had carried him in here picked him up again, and took him out of the room, slamming the door behind them. As if to punctuate the point further, a pile of goo fell from the roof, just where the professor had been standing. 

As soon as the door shut, all four of the students let out long sighs of relief. There were… Literally a thousand ways in which that could have gone far, far worse. This was… Probably as light as it got. 

Still, it didn’t mean any of them _felt_ especially lucky. Or good, for that matter. 

“I am… So, so, _so_ sorry, you guys.” Luz said quickly, almost immediately after exhaling. “I didn’t - I didn’t think _that_ would happen!”

“It’s okay, Luz.” Willow looked over from her workplace towards the Human. She offered her friend a light smile. “We all... Kind of got ahead of ourselves. We all encouraged you to try your new glyph out before we knew what exactly it would do.” 

Amity nodded, and hummed in agreement. Her left arm crossed over, and held onto her right. “The… The professor… _Was_ right.” She said, almost like it physically hurt her to admit to it. “It _was_ mostly my fault - If I hadn’t let you all in here, none of this would have happened.” 

“Hey, hey, it’s not like it was just _one_ of us.” Gus said from the other side of the room. “We… We’re all to blame, at least a little bit.”

There was a brief moment of silence between the four of them. 

“...I guess we’re just lucky that all we got as punishment is having to clean this room up without Magic.” Amity commented, her voice sounding… Ever so slightly less dejected l than before. “I’ve seen the professor get… Pretty vindictive with people before.” 

Beside her, Luz shuddered - Willow somehow had a feeling that Luz had seen a number of these punishments for herself. Whatever they were, Willow was just glad that she hadn’t been subject to one of them. 

_Yet_ , anyway. 

“Er… Speaking of which,” Willow piped up, looking around at the goo-coated walls and realizing the full extent of the task ahead of them, “We should probably get to work. We’ve only got until next lesson to clean this up.”

Everyone nodded, and grabbed whatever cloths, mops, buckets of water and cleaning solvents that they could get their hands on, and began to scrub, clean, and wipe every surface in the room, as quickly, and as thoroughly as they could, until it looked like nothing had ever happened. 

It was going to take a lot of work to clear this up.

* * *

“Ow…” 

It really had been an especially sticky, viscous, and obstinate Abomination. 

Attempting to massage her right shoulder with her left hand, while at the same time rolling her shoulders, Willow let out a low hiss. The tension in her shoulders had built up from all the rapid, thorough cleaning that she had had to do, and she was now trying to release it in whatever way she could manage. 

No matter how much she had attempted to mop it up, the Abomination goo hadn’t lifted easily. It had required multiple attempts of high-intensity pressure to get the sticky substance to lift off of the walls and the floor. Like trying to coax a carnivorous man-eater plant to let go of it’s prey. Combined with the time limit that had been placed on them, Willow and everyone else had had to go as quickly as she physically could to even come close to cleaning up in time for the next lesson. 

“And we’re... Completely sure that wasn’t one of your professor's sadistic punishments, right?” Gus asked. He sounded particularly tired, out of the four of them. Which made sense, given his age compared to the rest of them.

“Trust me, he could have done… So much worse than that.” Amity answered, letting out a sigh of exhaustion as she did so. “What in the world was that Abomination made of? It shouldn’t have been anywhere near that difficult to clean up…”

Luz groaned. “My arms are killing me…”

Glancing over her shoulder to look back at her friends, Willow saw that they were all doing something similar to her, trying to relieve their aches in various ways.

They had managed to wrap up the cleaning effort in time for the end of lunch and for the next lesson, just as the Abomination professor had instructed - With just a few minutes to spare, though. It had taken most of their time to just get rid of the first layer of goo, before they had to deal with the layer that was actually sticking to the surfaces. 

But still, after about forty-five solid minutes, they had managed it. 

“At least it’s over.” Willow offered, trying to raise their spirits a little. “We were let off lightly, all things considered.” 

“Yeah,” Gus replied, letting his tired arms flop at either side of him, “But I don’t know if I’m even gonna be able to lift my arm for my Illusion Classes!” 

“Sorry, shoulders.” Luz muttered, apparently to her limbs directly. 

All of their afternoon classes were in the same direction up until a crossroad in the hallways, at which point they would have to split off from one another to go to their respective classrooms. Gus and Luz had Illusion classes, Amity had a class on the heximal system, and Willow - 

Willow blinked. Then she blinked again. _Then she realized what she’d forgotten to do._

_Blood meal._

“Oh… Shoot!” She suddenly came to a fast stop, turned on her heels, and did everything but run past her friends, headed in the complete opposite direction where they were headed. “You all go on without me - I forgot something important!” She called as she turned a corner, leaving her confused friends out of her line of sight. 

The Plant Track room had run out of Blood Meal in the previous day’s advanced lessons - They had been looking after a Wolfen-Tree; a particularly violent and difficult-to-deal with specimen that required far, _far_ more blood meal than a lot of the other plants in the Track’s possession. And, alongside sending at least one student to the Healers Office, the plant had taken up practically all of the classroom's blood meal supply. The Plant Track Professor had asked Willow to bring some from the supply closet for the afternoon classes. 

But with everything that happened with the Abomination and the cleanup, it had totally slipped Willows mind! And now, she was going to have to move as fast as she was physically capable of moving without running - unless she wanted to get in even more trouble, or even thrown in detention, now that that was back up and running - if she wanted to get to her classes on time.

It took her a couple of minutes to reach the supply locker that kept spare material for all the various Tracks at Hexside. Abomination materials for the Abomination Track, crystal balls for the Oracle Track, and blood meal for the Plant Track. 

She opened it up, and luckily for her, the Plant Track’s section was the first one that was available, and a few bags of blood meal were left next to one of the drawers. A small sigh escaped Willow; if she was quick about it, she might still be able to avoid running late. 

Stacking up a few bags into a holding crate and, after rubbing her shoulders once final time to try and work out the aches, she picked it up, and began to make her way towards the Plant Track classroom. 

Honestly, it was a little weird to her to be the one that was asked to retrieve classroom supplies - That was usually something teachers only asked good, competent, and trustworthy students to do. Willow wasn’t used to being considered… _Any_ of those. She’d only been on the Plant Track for about two months now. Easily, she was more comfortable there than she had been in the Abomination Track, but it was just _weird_ to know that her new teachers trusted her enough with this sort of thing. 

As she made her way through the corridors, she realized that they were mostly empty now, since everyone had rushed to class. Still though, there were a few people still making their way there. One of them was a classmate from one of the mixed-track Magical theory classes, who walked past Willow, and gave her a short, friendly wave. “Hey.” 

“Hey.” Willow couldn't wave, so she offered him a short nod. He smiled lightly, and nodded back. The two of them walked past one another without further incident. 

That was another thing that she had noticed; things like that seemed to keep happening now. It seemed to become more and more frequent after she had been able to make up with Amity - Or, at least as made up as they were going to get right now, anyway. Things had gotten better than, since she’d gotten more comfortable and confident in herself. That hadn’t been the end of it though - The real turning point though had been a month ago, during the Emperor’s attempted petrification of Eda. 

People around Hexside, even those who barely even knew her, seem to acknowledge and recognize her now, and treat her with a degree of respect. That was… New, too. And it was weird, but it had done wonders for her self-esteem. Which seemed to translate to getting better and better grades in Plant Track classes. A happy cycle, that just seemed to keep feeding into itself.

Maybe that was why her teachers trusted her with this. A small smile came onto her lips as she walked through the empty corridors and down a series of steps. That was a nice thought. Willow thought that - 

_Sniff._

Pausing on the steps for a moment, and feeling her ears twitch, Willow stopped and glanced around for a moment. The codiroors were empty, but she could have sworn that she heard - 

_Sniff. Sniff._

Her ears twitched again. That time, she _definitely_ heard something. 

Trusting her hearing, she peeked her head over the railing, looking down to see someone curled up, knees pulled into their chest, but just enough of them peeking out that Willow could see what Track they were in. Bard, apparently, if the red was anything to go by. Now that she was properly listening, Willow could hear soft sobbing escaping from them. 

Someone down there was crying. 

Without really thinking about it, Willow decided to investigate; someone might be hurt, and need help or something!

Making her way down the rest of the steps, Willow walked towards the crying person, and poked her head around the corner to see that the crying person had buried their head in their knees. They were tucked into a corner, half obscured in shadows. They very clearly hadn’t wanted to be seen, but hadn’t accounted for anyone hearing them, apparently. Willow was barely able to make out a few details.

But even then, it didn’t take Willow even a _second_ to realize who it was.

The red uniform that identified the person as a part of the Bard Track was only one of the identifiers - Darker skin, and a signature haircut of white and gray hair with the sides buzzed; that -

_That was Skara._

For just a moment, Willow just outright stared at the scene before her - Skara was sobbing into her hands and knees, and was too busy doing that to see the Plant Witch. There was something ...Surreal about it, and it was only when Willow realised what she was doing that she hid around the corner again. 

_What in the world was she doing here, and why was she crying?_

She wasn’t even anywhere near the Bard Track classroom - That was practically on the other side of the school, and Willow was fairly confident that they had classes like every other Track did at this time. And Skara was usually in her lessons on time no matter what.

Evidentially, something had happened; she wouldn’t be crying otherwise, or hiding away like this. Willow was about to say something.

Then she stopped herself. 

Skara was a part of Boscha’s group of friends. Even if Boscha’s teasing had died down from the outright physical, the taunting had not stopped. The repeated teasing of _‘half-a-witch’_ and the taunting reminders of her past inability to do magic had continued. They were pretty much the only things that hadn’t changed in the last couple of months. _The one thing left that reminded her of the miserable time that she had had at this school._

Even though Boscha was the one who did most of it, Skara and the rest of the girls in her group just stood by and let it happen. Even _Amity_ had less taken part, and more often than not, just watched it happen. The difference though, was that Amity had apologised, and stopped entirely. Amity had left Boscha’s gang. 

_Skara hadn’t._

Years - Literal _years_ of putting up with all of their taunting, all their harassing, bullying, making her life miserable - 

_Why should Willow care if Skara was hiding and upset?_

For once, things were going right for her - They were going _so well_ for Willow. She had friends, and had managed to at least fix things a little with Amity. She was doing well in school and didn’t feel like a complete failure anymore. She was happier. So much _happier_. And what had Skara done for her, other than just… Be an obstacle in the way of that?

Willow glanced back down the corridor. The Plant Track classroom was around the corner. She still had the blood meal to deliver. 

She could just turn around right now. Carry on with her day as normal. Pretend that she didn’t see anything.

_That’s what Skara would probably do after all._

Besides, if she stopped now, she’d end up being late. Her teachers had finally shown some trust and faith in her. She didn’t want to let them down now. 

Not for _Skara_ , anyway. 

Turning away, and closing her eyes, Willow pulled away from the corner. She stood still though. Tried to work herself up into taking the first step and walking away. 

A particularly loud sob made her flinch slightly. Willow sighed. 

_She couldn’t just leave her there, could she?_

_Her conscience wouldn’t let her._

Another sigh escaped her, and she knelt down to place the crate of blood meal on the ground. She would… She had to at least try to see what was wrong. 

Stepping back around the corner, she walked until she was just in front of Skara. For a brief moment, Willow didn’t have the first clue what to say. What was she supposed to do, just… Act casual? Like there wasn’t any history between the two of them? What was she supposed to… 

“... Skara?” She eventually asked. She didn’t know how else to open this up. 

Skara jumped slightly when she realized someone was there, and quickly tried - and failed miserably - to wipe her face clear of any sign of sadness before she looked up. 

When she saw that it was Willow, there wasn’t any hiding the surprise and confusion on her face. She just blinked, and for a short while, it looked as though Willow's mere presence had _surprised_ Skara out of crying. She just sort of _stared_ at the Plant Witch.

Of all the people she had expected to see, Willow clearly, and fairly obviously, hadn’t been one of them. But that was fair enough - Willow hadn’t expected to be one of them either. 

An awkward silence hung over them, Willow searching for what to say, eventually clearing her throat. “Um...” She started, “...Are you... okay?” 

A single second passed, before one, lone, watery chuckle came from Skara, and she buried her head in her knees again. 

Willow grimanced slightly, “Yeah, that was a dumb question, I guess.”

 _“Go away.”_ Skara muffled into her knees. _“Leave me alone.”_

“...You know that classes are going to start soon, right? If... If you’re upset, you should at least go to the Healers Office. You won’t get marked as skipping class if you - “

 _“I said go away.”_ Skara repeated, this time trying to be a bit firmer. Her voice croaked halfway through saying it though, so it didn’t sound even the least bit intimidating. 

For a moment, Willow considered doing as she asked. She was… Probably one of the last people that Skara would ever explain… Any of this to, really. It wasn’t like she could force Skara to say anything to her either. 

But still...

“...I could tell someone that you’re here.” She said, although to be honest, she was just trying whatever came into her head at this point.. “I’m in the Plant class next. It’s just around the corner. I could tell the professor there that you’re here. That… That you’re skipping classes.” 

Again, Skara looked up at Willow. This time, she didn’t bother to try to wipe the tears away from her face. Her expression was… An odd one. A mixture of confusion, sadness, apprehension, and incredulity, but also… It wasn’t quite fear, but it did show something on that spectrum. “...Are you going to?”

“...No.” 

They both stared at each other for a moment. 

“...I guess that’s not a very good threat, is it?” 

“No, no.” Skara said, her eyes now visibly red from tears and rubbing with her hand, She wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Just… Unexpected.” 

She looked down again, giving a low sigh. There was another brief pause.

“....If I tell you will you go away?” She asked. Her voice was heavy. Apparently, she had accepted that Willow wouldn’t leave her alone until she knew what was wrong, and Skara… Didn’t have the energy to yell at her to go away. 

Willow nodded. She sat down against the wall, taking up a space that was next to Skara. For a short while, they just sat there, not saying a word, while Skara tried to keep herself from sobbing again, and compose herself. 

Just sitting there, Willow didn’t say a word. She didn’t push Skara at all. She just waited until she was ready. 

It took maybe a minute before Skara found her voice. 

“...Ves broke up with me.” The words barely carried across the short distance between them. 

Ves - Willow recognized the name. He was in the Beast Keeping Coven - The guy that Skara had gone to Grom with. 

School gossip wasn’t something that Willow kept a particularly close eye on, and she wasn’t exactly friends with Ves either. All that she knew about that particular situation was that apparently Skara and him had been tip-toeing around each other for quite a while now, and Grom was the first actual thing that they had done together. 

So it hadn’t even lasted a _month_?

“...Oh.” Willow chewed her lip, trying to figure out what to say. This was just… Drama. She hadn’t known what she had been expecting when she asked Skara what was wrong, but it hadn’t been... This. Normally, Willow did everything she could to try and avoid this kind of drama. 

She couldn’t even understand how Skara must have felt - She had never had to deal with a break-up before. Maybe the closest thing that she had to compare it to was her friendship with Amity, but that was a _completely different thing._

This was… Something personal. This was something that Willow didn’t know even the first thing about. She didn’t know what had happened between Ves and Skara. She barely even knew a _thing_ about either of them. 

_What the heck was she even supposed to say here?_

Skara groaned, putting her face in her hands. “And he didn’t even tell me _why_.” She started to talk more. “He just... Just came up to me, said that we were done, and walked off.” 

That made Willow blink; even _she_ had gotten more than that when _Amity_ had been forced to end their friendship.

“He didn’t give you a reason at all?” She asked, her eyes narrowing. Skara just nodded. “He literally just walked up, said that, and left?” 

“Who - Who does that? I - I didn’t even - At least - Couldn’t he at least have told me why?” If she had been trying to hold back, Skara finally failed here. Words came flooding out so quickly that she began to trip on them. “Instead he just - He just walks off, and - And what am I supposed to think? I thought we - We went to Grom together! I thought he liked me. And I’m just - I’m getting all worked up over all of this and - ” 

She stopped for just a moment. 

“...I don’t even know what I did wrong…” 

There was a few seconds of silence as Willow tried to figure out something to say. 

Nothing came to her mind. 

For a short while, neither of them moved. Skara’s tears seemed to dry up after a short while, like she had run out of them entirely. 

Upon noticing that, Willow reached into her shoulder bag, and pulled out a bottle of water out of her bag, and held it out to Skara. “Here. You… Probably need this more than I do. I can get it refilled in class anyway.” 

Looking at it, and then at Willow, Skara seemed to hesitate slightly, before she reached out and took it without a word. She had been incredibly thirsty, apparently, because she downed the thing in just a few seconds, and let out an exhale as she finished. 

A brief smile of gratitude appeared on Skara’s lips. 

But then it curled down again, and tears began to fall once more. Her head fell into her right hand, which gripped her forehead. “I… I - I didn’t even know what to say to him. He just walked off and I didn’t - couldn’t even try to say anything. I just…” A sob escaped her. “...I really tried, y’know? I tried with him but… But I don’t even know what went wrong and... And now I’m…” 

More open sobbing followed. 

_And now she was here, crying underneath a staircase, completely on her own._

_Except for someone who she had helped to torment, who had stopped to ask her if she was okay._

It reminded Willow… Far too much of a lot of the times she had ended up alone throughout the years here. 

...What could she even say in this situation? Skara was obviously blaming herself for... Everything. But she didn’t even know what happened. And that was a spiral that Willow knew well.

Willow… Wished she knew something to say. Something to make this all just… Stop. Something that could be comforting and insightful, and would let Skara just wrap this all up in a nice neat bow and move on with her life.

That wasn’t how this worked though. That at least, Willow understood perfectly well. 

She took her time, trying to gather her thoughts on what to say. 

“...I think...” Willow started, hesitantly, trying to pick her words carefully, “...That it might not be your fault.” She ran her finger on the ground, drawing small circles on the tile floor to distract her. “I mean, if he didn’t give you any explanation then, I think that he just…” Her words died off as she tried to think of something else to say. 

Once again, nothing came of it. 

The only thing that she could think of was how strange it was to be trying to reassure someone who previously had only tried to put her down. It was… It was hard to describe. 

Even if Skara was one of her close friends, Willow had no experience with something like this. So she was trying to reassure someone she had only ever had bad experiences with, about something she knew next to nothing about, about a situation she had never been in herself. 

There was something slightly surreal about that. 

“It’s his loss.” 

Looking up again, Skara turned to Willow with a look of confusion. . 

“That’s what I'm supposed to say right?” Willow gave a small shrug and an attempt at a smile, her lips barely, awkwardly quirking upwards.

Somehow, it made Skara let out a rough chuckle. 

_At least that was something._

“...Yeah.” The Bard Witch nodded. She didn’t sound too convinced, but...

The awkward mood descended again, and Skara took another hesitant sip of her water. 

Willow shifted in place. Were she being honest, she didn’t know what more good she could be to Skara right now. Skara needed… Someone who actually had a clue about what it was they were talking about, and that wasn’t her by any stretch of the imagination. 

She had done the best that she could. 

“...Why did you stop?” 

When Willow turned back to skara, there was an inquisitive look on her face that Willow couldn’t fully describe - Confusion, uncertainty, a… There weren’t really enough words to properly describe the look Skara gave her as she asked, but it was a lot more tentative and careful than the Plant Witch had seen her before. 

Her fingers drummed against her knees.“You didn’t have to, I mean, Titan knows that I have given you enough reasons to just leave me here to cry it out alone.” 

It was a good question, honestly. Willow wished she had an answer that made sense to her, too. 

“...You know,” She started, her words hesitant, “I know what it’s like to be alone. And what it’s like to not know why people are treating you poorly.” 

Skara looked away. 

Willow continued, “When Amity left, I spent a… A really long time blaming myself. I had no idea what happened.” Willow sighed. “I… I kept wondering, if I had done this or that differently, if I said this here, or said that there, then maybe… Maybe we would have still been friends. Or at least, maybe she wouldn’t talk to me like I’m… Just some nobody.”

_That had been what hurt the most._

But a slight smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “But it was never my fault. And because of my friends, Amity and I talked and…” She stopped herself, before she said anything about the exact manner in which this had all transpired, since it had been, well - Illegal. “...Well, I know what it was now. And…”

Standing onto her feet, she offered Skara a hand. Skara looked at it, and then up at Willow. 

“...I know what it’s like to want to curl up and cry, too...”

Briefly, Skara looked up at the hand again, and then back to Willow. A part of her… Still didn’t get it. 

Neither did Willow. 

“...And I couldn’t leave you like that.” Willow finally admitted. “Not when I know what it’s like. I… I tried but I couldn’t. Because no one deserves to feel like that for something they didn’t do.”

At that point, Willow stopped waiting - She reached for Skara’s hand, and pulled her up herself. Skara wobbled as soon as she was on her feet, but once she was up, she was up. She seemed surprised but… Not actually upset. 

“..I don’t think you’re the person to blame here. I know I don’t know about your situation or anything but… I don’t think that you did anything wrong. Not with Ves, at least.”“Just,” Willow gave her a small, awkward smile, “Remember that.” All Skara could do was stand there. This was… 

...To just say it was unexpected would be a disservice, but that was what it was. There wasn’t really much else that she could think. It was one of those times where even someone with the widest vocabulary in the would would find themselves using the simplest language imaginable.

It was just… _Unexpected_. 

“I ah, class is on the other side of…”Willow trailed off awkwardly, pointing behind her - She had done as much as she could, and didn’t know what else to say. And if she could avoid getting any more in trouble with her Plant class than she was, then that would be preferable. “Are… Are you going to be okay?” 

For a moment, Skara thought really, really hard about the answer. 

“...I’m okay.” She finally said, a small, sad smile on the corner of her lips. “I mean, no, I’m not okay…” She continued, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Even after crying as much as she had, eyeliner still smeared it. “...But I… I have a feeling I will be.” 

* * *

**[QuirkQuartz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuirkQuartz) \- 'Ello! I'm QuirkQuartz - I wrote [Valeween Night To Remember](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27153874), and [It Must Be (A) Love (Potion)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26512093), do [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWXKJg-NcK9EE-QtPNbjCsg) stuff and am generally that one guy who does way too many projects for their own good! Me and Julia have been planning this project for a month in secret and we're happy to FINALLY have the first chapter up! Julia is an amazing writer and I'm honoured to be working with her! We hope you enjoy this because Hoooo boy we're going to enjoy writing it :D **   
  
**[JuliaCorvid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuliaCorvia/pseuds/JuliaCorvia) \- Hello all!! this is Julia, Author of [Replace My Name (Maybe With Yours)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26707255), and I am super exited to work with QuirkQuartz on this wonderful story that we have. I hope you are ready for a great one, because we have lots in story for you all. Thank you all for reading, and hope you enjoy!**

**Both creators of this fic work on[Project Evergreen](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28969497/chapters/71090442) \- a large joint project by multiple creators from the Good Witch Society - Be sure to check it out!**

**Credit to our friend[ Majestic_Arts](https://www.instagram.com/majestics_art/) for the artwork - They're absolutely amazing and adorable and we both adore it to the ends of the earth : D**


	2. The Way Its Supposed To Be

_...I’m okay. I mean, no, I’m not okay… But I… I have a feeling I will be. _

Thinking that had been a lot easier earlier, somehow, when the wounds were still as fresh and raw as they could possibly be. Now though, after they had had the time to ferment, along with the thoughts and memories that made Skara want to just yell at something. Or someone. Or just….

Do  _ something _ to let it all out.

Skara collapsed onto her bed, letting her body flop onto the mattress. Her entire body felt like it had been replaced with lead, and she didn’t even have the motivation or energy to just stand up, or even to lay down in a remotely dignified manner - She really did just collapse onto the mattress, and let her arms and legs flop wherever they fell. Everything just felt  _ heavy.  _

Getting up into her room without either of her parents noticing how upset she was had been… Stressful, to say the least.  She had put on a brave face, and pretended to act like everything was normal when she ran into them, hating every single second of it, before slipping away under the guise of having a proverbial mountain of homework to do, locking the door behind her the second she was on the other side. 

It wasn’t that they wouldn’t care - It was the opposite. They would care. A _ lot _ . And that was… Nice of them, Skara supposed. It was nice to be cared about, of course it was. But she just didn’t… Want to  _ deal _ with that right now. With the questions, having to explain what happened all over again, or the… Any of it. 

After the day that she had just had, she couldn’t find the energy to care about…  _ Anything _ , really. 

Instead, she just laid there, feeling time pass her by. 

Her muscles relaxed and de-tensed until it felt like they no longer existed. Skin felt tighter against her face, but also like it was drooping at the same time. There was a feeling in her stomach that she could only describe as a  _ vortex _ . Her eyelids were sore, felt like they were attached to weights, and as much as she would have loved to escape all of this by falling asleep, her eyes themselves stung to the point of actual pain when her eyelids shut, even if just to blink. That was from all the tears. And more still threatened to fall again if she thought about this too much. 

_ There wasn’t anything else on her mind, though.  _

A sigh escaped her, and her head shifted slightly. There was a poster hanging from her ceiling - The Hexgirls. Limited edition, signed, and everything. Honestly, it was something of a prized possession of hers, reminding her of the concert that she had been to. The one that sparked her love of music and grand performance. She stared blankly at it. 

On any other normal day, the sight of it would give her a boost of inspiration and motivation to practice her Bard Magic. To pick up an instrument, to figure out what she was weakest at, and what she needed to practice with more. Figure out what spells worked, and which didn’t. To just… Do  _ something _ . To be productive in some way. To perfect her music and her Magic. To be a better Bard. 

Not today, though. Today wasn’t a normal day. 

_ Titan, nothing could be further from the truth.  _

Today had been nothing short of  _ absolute garbage.  _

And even  _ that  _ was an understatement. Skara slung her left arm over her eyes, letting out a frustrated groan. The events of the day flashed before her again, and she tried to make sense of it all. What…  _ Happened? _ How did any of this even happen? 

Everything seemed to be going…  _ Fine _ before today, she had thought. There wasn’t even anything in particular that came to mind that she could pinpoint as a moment when things began to fall apart. One minute, everything had been… Fine. And the next, it just... Wasn’t anymore. 

Ves and her had tip-toed around one another for how long? Months? And throughout all of that, nothing had come up like this. They had been to Grom together,  and had dated for just a month - And during all of that time, nothing Skara could think of had come up. She didn’t act any differently, didn’t talk to him in a different way to how she usually did, just…. 

He had even gone through the whole effort to do an elaborate Grom-posal, and she’d tried to do everything right by him  \- Didn’t that mean...  _ Something _ ? 

Apparently not. And even if it had... What difference did it make now? The end result was still… This.  Her in a mess, not knowing what had changed in such a short span of time. 

She felt ….Drained. Like she had already cried out most of her tears earlier today,  and didn’t have any more tears left . She dragged her arm across her eyes, and as she did so, she felt a bit of moisture come along with it. 

_ ‘Wrong again, Skara.’ _ She thought to herself. She really was starting to get sick of being wrong today. 

Feeling the moisture against her arm made her pay attention to her eyes again - They were starting to well up again, just like she knew they would if she thought about all of this again. And just knowing that it was having that effect seemed to accelerate it; now that she had noticed it, her vision became watery, and she felt the tears start to spill over more and more. Her lips quivered, and she wiped her eyes with her fingers and thumb, which met and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her teeth gritted against one another as she tried to force the tears back in. 

_ ‘Come on, pull yourself together.’  _ Her head told her, like it always did whenever she found herself frustrated with her music, or with her schoolwork, or her Magic. ‘ _ You’re stronger than this. You… You’re supposed to be stronger than this.’  _

The same voice that chastised her for not being able to perfect her crafts was not the same voice that made her feel particularly strong when she was feeling like this. If anything, it just made her feel worse, for not being able to meet the standards her mind was telling her she had to. She was supposed to be stronger than this. She wasn’t, but she was supposed to be. 

...But she  _ was. _

That was what Boscha and her parents were always telling her, that she was supposed to pull herself together, to ace any challenge that came in front of her. 

It wasn’t like this was the first time she had been  _ sad _ before. 

Was she  _ really _ just going to let some  _ boy _ affect her like  _ this?... _

…Evidently,  _ yes. She was.  _

It didn’t matter how much she tried - She wasn’t going to psyche herself into not feeling like garbage about this. This wasn’t like just having a bad day and trying to mentally kick-start herself into feeling better about it. She couldn’t just…  Talk herself into being happy again, or motivate herself into distracting productivity, or even just not feeling like trash. That just… 

...Wasn’t how this was going to work.

Turning over onto her side, Skara felt herself sigh automatically, and let out another groan of frustration. In spite of the stinging it caused, her eyes closed as she rolled over. She… Really, really… 

_ ….Really hated this.  _

A few seconds passed, and for a couple of them, Skara thought that maybe the stinging in her eyes had passed. As soon as she was settled into her new position though, it sparked back up again, and made her open them up again. 

_ Willow.  _

Sitting on her end table, the first thing Skara saw once her eyes re-opened, was the bottle of water that Willow had given her earlier that day. It stood there, right in the centre of the table, empty, and slightly condensed on the inside. There was a single flower pattern on the side of it, as well as a few vine images towards the bottom of the plastic. A part of Skara wondered if Willow had had it custom-made. 

It just sat there. And it was the only thing in the dark room that Skara’s eyes focused on. 

When Willow had left to finally go to her classes, she had left the bottle with Skara, apparently forgetting that she had lent it to the Bard Track Witch in the first place. After that conversation, Skara normally would have called out, or said something to tell Willow she had left it behind, but the truth was that she was still upset and in something of a daze, and didn’t even realize herself until a few minutes later that it was still next to the wall they had been leaning against. So, Skara had been left with it for the rest of the day. 

She could have just left it there, but… There wasn’t any telling what could happen to it there. Who might come and steal it. Or if Willow had even noticed that it had gone missing. So, Skara took it. And tomorrow, she’d return it. 

That… That was the least that she owed her, right? __

_ I know what it’s like to want to curl up and cry too. _

Skara’s eyes managed to squeeze shut, the stinging be damned. 

That was the other part of this entire mess of a day that had accumulated into… This state she found herself in. Willow, what she had done, and what she had said. 

Of  _ everyone  _ that could have seen her, and actually cared enough to stop and ask her if she was okay, Skara hadn’t expected… Well, she hadn’t actually expected  _ anyone  _ to find her, or had wanted anyone to find her. She just wanted to be left alone, somewhere no one would be able to see her. She didn’t expect anyone to find her, and even if they did, she didn’t expect anyone to care enough to ask why she was upset. 

Willow had stopped though. Asked what was wrong. And even though Skara had tried to get her to go away, she just… Wouldn’t. She seriously tried to figure out what was wrong… But she didn’t push, either. Didn’t try to pry information out of her. Just… Let her speak. Let her vent. And then tried to cheer her up. To empathise. To...

….A part of Skara wanted to be  _ mad  _ at Willow. To be bitter. That would be  _ easier _ . 

_ What did she know? She was half-a-Witch Willow. She didn’t know. She didn’t... _

. Half-A-Witch Willow; the person who until just a couple of months ago, had been at the absolute bottom of Hexsides social hierarchy. Half-A-Witch Willow; who couldn’t even do Magic properly. Half-A-Witch Willow; who had been subject to Titan knew how much crap from pretty much everyone around her, including Botha and Skara herself. 

Half-A-Witch Willow; the one person who would have had every excuse in the world to ignore her. The one person who she didn’t expect literally anything from. 

And the one person who tried to help. 

_ Boscha  _ had hardly cared. And they were friends. And that was just….

_...That was just how friendship worked.  _

It would be easier to be angry at Willow, but...

...A small voice in the back of her head told Skara that if anyone was going to know, it was Willow. Any attempt she made to be mad at the Plant Witch failed within just a few seconds. She just… Couldn’t. 

And Titan forbid that Boscha ever hear that, either.

After Amity had left Boscha only grew bitter, the snide remarks on Willow and the rest of her friends only increasing as time went by. The fallout from the little Grudgby match that they had against Willow had only made it worse. Boscha’s pride had certainly taken a hit, and that was… Having an impact, to put it lightly. 

Not to mention Willow’s speech during the Owl Lady’s near petrification... 

It seemed everyone was talking about Willow now, a fact that infuriated Boscha to no end. Bo and Amelia had given up trying to placate her, all of them just waiting out Boscha’s tirades. 

_ There was probably going to be one about this whole situation with Ves too, _ Skara realised. Another low, deep, guttural groan escaped her.

That, or Boscha would gloss over this in favour of whatever gossip was big that day. 

Hopefully the second one. 

Once more, she turned over, hoping that somehow, it would help her escape into sleep. 

It didn’t, though. 

The screaming of the bell was far too loud for Skara as she dragged herself through the hall. It felt like someone was shoving needles straight through her ear-drum, and she had to actually cover her ears as best she could to try and block the noise out even just a little bit.

Normally, she hated that bell even on a good day. Her hearing was sensitive as it was - She was in the Bard Track, after all. If you wanted to get anywhere in the Bard Track, you had to have good, well-tuned hearing, to be able to hear the small differences in cords of instruments. A natural downside of that though was that loud, sharp, screaming like the Hexside bell always got to her worse than it seemed to for other people. 

Today though, honestly, she was debating if just being hit in the face with a brick would be less painful. 

Everything seemed heavier today; from the slow trudging of her feet, to the way her eyelids seemed to resist her efforts to keep them open, to her bag, almost pulling her body to one side; and it all seemed to be due to the empty bottle of water that was weighing down her bag. 

It could also have been the precisely  _ two hours and thirty nine minutes of sleep _ that she had gotten the night before, spent instead tossing and turning, laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to, in vain, make some sense of the events of the day. 

_ But it was probably Willow’s water bottle.  _

She had just finished storing her books inside of her locker when the teeth of the locker next to her slammed shut, making the upset, exhausted, and barely awake Bard twitch in surprise with the loud, sudden noise. 

“What’s got you so jumpy?” Boscha’s voice came from next to her. Skara turned to see the Witch leaning back against the adjoining locker. She was still wearing her Grudgby captain jacket, despite the season having ended a few days earlier, and going through what set of claws she was interested in wearing today. Right now, she was on flames. 

“N - Nothing. Nothing, just... Not a lot of sleep. I was up studying for the Bard test later this week.” Skara lied, and tried to pull together her composure. Right now she really… Didn’t want to deal with whatever fallout would come from if she told Boscha the actual reason she was like this. She didn’t have the energy to deal with that.

Boscha narrowed her three eyes at her and for a moment, Skara felt a small part of the back of her brain freeze up, wondering if Boscha had seen through her small lie. Or already knew. 

The look lasted for just a few seconds though. And then, Boscha gave a small grunt before shrugging. 

“Well, at least you're over that Fez guy.” Boscha checked her nails again, only half in the conversation as she snapped her fingers, a spell circle appearing and changing her nails into longer talons. “Hmm, better.” 

A sigh escaped Skara - A combination of relief that Boscha hadn’t noticed, slight exasperation that Boscha hadn’t even bothered to learn Ves’ name had not, in fact, been ‘Fez’, and in depression at being reminded of that entire situation. Especially in such a… Flippant manner. 

Boscha had been there when Ves had broken up with her. She had pretty much watched that entire exchange go down. And that had been it, really. Just watched it go down. And she did express her sympathies after it was done, but left her on her own the moment that they had to start heading for their classes. And now, it was like in Boscha’s head, everything was over now. Like it had already resolved itself.

Still, it was about as much as one could expect from Boscha, Skara supposed. It didn’t mean she liked the Potions Witch being so… Dismissive about it though, even if it was preferable to a tirade. She wished there was some sort of middle ground that she could expect. 

This was about as good as it got though. 

“...Yeah.” She muttered, quietly. Of course she wasn’t over it though. That wasn’t how it worked. 

But it wasn’t worth starting an argument over. 

Leaning back against the lockers herself, Skara let out another exhale, and let her eyes close. She let herself just stay there for a short while, and just be… Still. It felt like the first moment of stillness that she had gotten since yesterday. She really was exhausted, physically and emotionally, and today hadn’t even begun yet. They hadn’t even had their first lesson of the day yet. She had an entire day of feeling like this to look forward to. 

The bag over her shoulders suddenly felt a  _ lot  _ heavier.

“Skara?” 

Opening her eyes again, Skara blinked when she saw that Bo and Amelia had arrived at some point, and Skara hadn’t even heard them approach - And for a second, Skara wondered if she had actually just fallen asleep while standing for a short while. It took her brain a few seconds to properly register that her friends were in front of her, and that she should probably  _ actually say something _ to them. 

“O - Oh.” A lethargic Skara eventually answered. “H… Hey.” 

“Are you alright?” Amelia asked. There was a degree of worry to her voice. 

“Yeah, I’m - I’m sorry, I’m just tired.” Skara answered, rubbing her eyes with one of her hands. “Just -” 

“She means about what happened with Ves.” Bo said. 

That made Skara blink awake. “How did…”

“Everyone is talking about how he dumped you.” Boscha spoke up, before turning back to her nails. “I’m surprised you hadn’t noticed.” 

Blinking just once, Skara felt her stomach drop. Really, she hadn’t been paying even remote attention to her surroundings at all ever since she’d gotten here, being more focused on trying to be actually awake. She took another look at Bo and Amelia, like she was silently asking them if that was true, but the look on their faces alone confirmed it. 

By chance, she saw someone just behind Amelia, who looked like they were looking over. Like they knew about what happened. As soon as they realized that she could see them, they looked away, trying to look like they hadn’t been looking in the first place.  _ They did know.  _

_ How many people had been watching her since she had entered the building?  _

Skara’s gut felt like it froze over. She knew that the rumour-mill always moved really fast - she’d watched it happen probably hundreds of times at this point, saw how brutal it could get - but that everyone had already heard by now… 

_ As if she didn’t feel like garbage enough as it were.  _

The sound of laughter made her eyes dart over, to the other end of the hallway. In her current state, her mind instantly assumed that it was laughter directed towards her, and instinctually snapped towards it - 

Willow was standing by her locker, and her group of friends was surrounding her. She was saying something, though what it was, Skara couldn’t hear from this distance. She could see Willow though, miming something as the rest of the group broke into another round of giggles. 

_...Oh _ . 

So  _ that  _ was how it had started so quickly. 

It… Wasn’t a surprise, honestly. It shouldn’t have been, anyway - Skara wasn’t sure why it was. Of course Willow would take the opportunity to gloat over the fact that she had found her crying. That made sense. 

_ That was how this worked. It shouldn’t have been a surprise. _

Now it was going to be all over the school within a week, if not a day or two, and she would have to deal with the fallout and everything that brought with it. Anxiety wriggled throughout her whole body. It felt like worms were in her gut. 

“Ugh.” Boscha’s face twisted into an irritated glare. She was watching the scene play out in front of them just like Skara was, clearly more invested in that than whatever conversation was happening beside her. “Why anyone pays attention to  _ her _ of  _ all  _ people is beyond me.” Boscha then summoned her scroll, flicking through it and, if Skara had to guess, started typing a quick status update for Penstagram. Probably admonishing Willow in it - Indirectly vague-posting, of course. For plausible deniability. 

Another round of laughter came from Willow’s friends - Now the Plant Witches face was red, either from laughing too much or from embarrassment of some kind. It was impossible to tell which. 

“...Hey, um…” Skara started to ask, extremely tepidly, towards Bo and Amelia, “What… Did you hear, exactly? About me and Ves?” She… Needed at least a  _ rough _ idea of how bad things had gotten. 

Amelia and Bo glanced at one another, before Bo answered. “The rumours haven’t gotten that bad yet. We just heard that he broke up with you and that you didn’t show up to Bard classes.” 

Again, Skara blinked.  _ That was it?  _

“You were too good for him anyway.” Boscha suddenly said, though still with a distanced tone.

A forced chuckle escaped Skara, and the fake laughter grated against her ears, but there was a slight bit of legitimate relief in it too. She had… Expected much worse right out of the gate. But maybe that was just because Amelia and Bo hadn’t heard the full rumour. Maybe it hadn’t fully circulated yet. 

Or maybe Willow was just screwing with her. 

“Why, what happened?” Amelia asked, the worry sounding up again. “Is it worse than that?” 

“No, it…” Skara sighed. The anxiety and tired irritation built up inside her again. “...I don’t want to talk about it right now. Just drop it, okay?” 

Tearing her eyes away and walking away from the group, another sigh escaped her as she prepared to go through the day and face whatever humiliation that would come from Willow finding her during a moment of weakness. 

Nothing happened. 

Nothing major, anyway - There were a few people who she could tell were looking at her, but nearly all of them gave her a wide berth, and didn’t look in the least bit amused. Granted, pity wasn’t much better, but it was better than just being mocked. Heck, even the number of people who were just glancing at her were far fewer than she had expected. 

Her first class went by nearly completely without incident, the only thing of note being her teacher asking her if she was alright when he realised that his student hadn’t written a single thing in her notebook, and reminded her to pay attention. That was the closest thing to anyone even acknowledging the situation between her and Ves.

A couple of people did seem to notice in her Bard class later on in the day. She caught sight of a couple of people who were looking at her while she exhaustedly attempted to play notes with her harp, but that was it. If Skara were less paranoid, she might have even put their looks down to the fact that her drowsiness was making her miss notes she normally wouldn’t even slightly struggle with. 

Notably, the Human - Luz. Willow’s friend - Didn’t even seem to pay her any attention at all. She barely seemed to acknowledge Skara’s existence whatsoever. She even walked past her and didn’t even glance. Just passed her by to pick up her Bard instruments, and began to practice. Just like normal. 

As the day progressed, Skara only got more and more anxious and frustrated; she heard  _ nothing at all _ about her. The longer it went on, the more convinced she got that something would happen. That before lunch, or at lunch, something would happen that made this explode. 

But at lunch, nothing happened either. People just went about their days as normal. Like the rumour didn’t exist at all. 

The rumour definitely  _ did  _ exist though But no one was saying anything to her now. No pity, or laughter, and barely even a small glance. 

Nothing. 

Where were the knowing glances? The giggles barely hidden behind hands coupled with knowing pointing? Where were the people asking stupid, sarcastic questions? 

She almost wished that it  _ would _ happen - Just to be over and done with it.

The further the day got with no sign of anything wrong, the more anxious Skara grew. It didn’t make sense; the rumour was definitely out there - That was how Bo and Amelia had heard in the first place - but it was like no one was acting on it, like it was barely even a blip on the radar. After what had happened between her and Willow though, what Willow had seen, it should have been more than that, and the fact that it wasn’t - It didn’t make sense. 

Eventually, she broke off from Boscha after lunch had finished, and took off toward her next class early, determined to get through the day so that she could return home and curl up again. Maybe she could actually get some sleep; sooth the headache that was raging behind her eyes. She was only half lying to Boscha earlier; she did have a test to prepare for soon, and before she could even think about that, she still had to actually process yesterday in her head. The last thing she wanted to add onto that list was a splitting headache and a paranoia streak. 

Not that she could do much about the latter, though.

Every time there was laughter near her, she jumped, half whirling around to see if the person was staring at her, as if this were the moment it all came to hit her in the face. Each time though, the culprit wasn’t even looking her way. She rushed through the hall, chewing on the inside of her lip as she kept her head down. 

It - It  _ had  _ to be at her, right? The laughter  _ had _ to be at her.  _ Look at one of Hexside's top Witches, fallen from grace. _ Her uniform felt itchy, her eyes heavy as everything suddenly seemed to be too loud for her. Everyone could see that she was in disarray; her hair was probably roughly pinned, and her eyes had obvious bags around them. She looked a mess, and even she knew it. 

Any second now it would all come crashing down. Any second - 

Too wrapped up in her thoughts, she didn’t see the other person coming down the hallway. 

_ “Oof!”  _

Her breath escaped as she ran into someone, stumbling backward and looking up to see none other than Willow. 

The Plant Witch was rubbing her shoulder from where they collided. For a half second, her eyes were focused on the shoulder in question, and didn’t look at Skara. As soon as that half second passed though, they sought out the culprit, and blinked when they realised who they had run into. 

“Oh! Skara.” Willow... Acknowledged. The two stared at each other awkwardly, Skara’s eyes darting around as she realized they were alone in the hallway. They didn’t say anything for a few seconds, both as lost as the other as to what to say. “I’m sorry, I didn’t see you. Are you okay?” 

Skara didn’t reply - Instead, remembering the one debt that she did owe Willow, she dug in her bag, pulled out the water bottle that had been weighing her down, and thrust it towards Willow. 

“Here.” Her voice was rushed, pushing the word out - And it really was an effort to push it out. 

This worked - She could just give back the water bottle, and get this over with; move through the rest of the day without having to worry about this water bottle reminding her of her breakdown yesterday. 

“...Thanks.” Reaching out to slowly take the water bottle, Willow searched Skara’s face. The bags under her eyes, the way that her eyes constantly darted around, the speed that she spoke with, and the urgency in her voice. Willow blinked as she took the water bottle, and then asked, “...Are you okay? I… I know yesterday must have been rough on you.” 

_ The weight that the water bottle had caused Skara didn’t fade in the slightest.  _

_ Why? _ Skara just blinked, dumbly, not sure what to say to that.  _ Why? _ Why was she pretending to care? Sure, yesterday she couldn’t just ignore Skara crying - Her conscious or whatever wouldn’t let her - but now? 

After she almost certainly had spent the whole morning telling all her friends about it, using her new popularity to get back at her? 

What was the point? Why bother? Why  _ pretend _ ? 

Willow asked again, “Skara? Are you - “

“Who did you tell?” The Bard finally snapped and just outright blurted out, the words coming before she could really even think them through clearly. She resisted the urge to clasp her hands over her mouth, both immediately regretting her decision to speak, and feeling her desire for answers force her to pay attention.

For a moment, there was total complete staticness between her and Willow. Nothing moved, and neither of them breathed. It actually seemed like the rest of the world stopped moving too, since no one else was around to shatter the moment's stillness. 

When Willow finally did move, her expression morphed into one of abject  _ bewilderment.  _

_ “...What?” _ She sounded shocked and confused, her eyebrows scrunching up in confusion. Her eyes narrowed, and one eyebrow rose above the other. “Who did I - What?” 

A second passed, and Skara blinked again. Normally, Skara would call out someone for playing dumb in this situation, but the way that Willows face shifted, the way her voice strained and twisted, and the way she stammered over her words -

_ She legitimately had no idea what Skara was talking about.  _

Somehow though, that just made the feeling of franticness that had been building inside her begin to boil over. “Yesterday! Who did you tell about yesterday? Was it Luz? Amity? Why do people know about what happened with me and Ves and - And why isn’t anyone asking me about what happened when you found me?” 

“I… Have… No idea about the last two things.” Willow flatly stated, blinking as she tried to even process what Skara had just blurted out at her. "What - Whatever those are, I don’t know, but - Why in the  _ Titan name _ would I  _ ever _ tell  _ anyone _ about our talk?” 

Again, she sounded legitimately confused - Like the idea hadn’t even occurred to her. 

_ ….It hadn’t, had it.  _

“You were crying and in distress!” A sudden franticness of her own had entered Willow's voice, like she was concerned that this was even a topic that needed to be talked about. She was clearly taken aback, and trying to figure out what  _ exactly _ Skara meant. “A - Am I supposed to just  _ tell everyone about that?" _

_ "Yes!" _

It came out as a yell. 

Willow froze, and Skara did too. For a solid fifteen seconds, neither of them moved or said a word. All Skara could think of was that she was thankful more people hadn’t been around to hear that. 

There was a look on Willow’s face that she couldn’t even begin to describe or decipher. Her eyebrows were furrowed, but curled upwards. Her mouth was hanging ever so slightly open, and there was a…  _ Something _ in her eye that she couldn’t quite place. Shock? Surprise? Confusion? 

After the fifteen seconds were up, Skara’s shoulders slumped, and she let out a defeated sigh. "That… That's just how it works."

“How… How what’s always worked?” 

“...This!” Skara’s arms flung open. “Hexside! School! This whole… Thing! People talk about the bad and the embarrassing things that happened to the people around them and then everyone mocks them and the person who told everyone gets social points! That - That’s how this all works! That’s just what happens!”

That was how Hexside had always worked for Skara. Pretty much every day was a drama circle where people would bicker about small, stupid things to try to get one up on each other and gain some kind of social standing. And something like what Willow had, what she could reveal to people about Skara - That was a proverbial goldmine! It was just how Hexside  _ worked _ . 

How it would work with Boscha… How it  _ did _ work with Boscha.

“...Why?” Willow asked. 

“It… It just does.” 

“Why, though?” Willow asked again. “What exactly means it has to work that way?” 

“It… It doesn’t - It doesn’t work like that!” There… Wasn’t a reason. It wasn’t physical. It wasn’t like there was a series of events that meant that this was how things worked. It didn’t make sense, but it just… Was, and Skara didn’t argue that. “It… It just...  _ Does.” _

"...Maybe that’s how it works with you and Boscha…" 

Skara lifted her head to look at her. 

"...But that isn't how it works with me. Or how it should work at all." 

And again, Skara just blinked. 

Was... That even an option? It had always been such an ever present force that Skara hadn’t thought to even question it. Everyone around her always seemed to work this way. Wasn’t that just… How it worked? 

But she couldn’t find herself doubting Willow here either - Somehow she just knew that she was being genuine here. 

“...Maybe you should... Think about that.” Willow tried to give a small smile, her lips barely quirking up. It quickly fell though, as she saw the…. Bewilderment on Skara’s face. For the second time today, and the third time in two days, Willow asked, “...Are… Are you okay?” 

There were a half dozen questions that ran through Skara’s head now. 

How did Willow just… Not take part in this? It was ever present - You couldn’t just… Not be involved in it, Skara thought. 

If it wasn’t necessary then… Why was this how Boscha worked? 

Why didn’t Willow just… Tell people? 

...And if she hadn’t told people about her and Ves, who had? 

Today though, unlike yesterday, Skara answered Willow’s question without resistance. But also without any certainty or conviction. Her face fell towards the ground again, and her answer came out a few seconds later, as a quiet whisper. 

“...I don’t know.”

* * *

**[QuirkQuartz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuirkQuartz): This was a tricky chapter since we had to figure out Skara's dynamic, but ho boy - Hope you all found it interesting!   
**

**[JuliaCorvia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuliaCorvia/pseuds/JuliaCorvia): Hope you all enjoyed the look into how Skara is dealing with this all. poor thing. Thanks for reading hope you enjoyed!**


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